Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Nothing new here until some time after the Continental Tire Bowl on December 27.

Sunday, December 21, 2003

Of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Allen Iverson and Julian Bond

This AP article was in the paper here today.

I noticed that at one point, the article attributes to U.Va.'s own Julian Bond the following statement: "If it had been up to Robert E. Lee, these kids wouldn't be going to school as they are today. They can't help but wonder about honoring a man who wanted to keep them in servitude."

On down the page, the article notes that Ernestine Harrison, who is leading the fight to have a Jefferson Davis school renamed, "dropped an effort to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary in Hampton after learning that Lee was reluctant to battle the North and did not own slaves." Apparently, Ms. Harrison and Professor Bond have different viewpoints on R.E. Lee.

The article quotes one parent as saying the Jefferson Davis school should not be renamed for basketball player Allen Iverson.

Southwest Virginia creditors pursue international pipeline builder

This article from the Quad Cities online describes the efforts of subcontractors and others working on a pipeline project in Southwest Virginia to record mechanic's liens and secure injunctive relief against the assets of an international pipeline that owes its creditors $120 million, according to documents filed in the divorce case of the William Murphy, president of the company, Murphy Brothers, Inc.

Taxes, morality, beavers, and Nittany Lion license plates

Hugh Lessig from the Daily Press has this lively summary of the agenda for the coming session of the Virginia General Assembly.

Parole board member rues decision's after death of parolee's girlfriend

Parole has been abolished in Virginia, except for those put in prison before the early 1990s.

This article from the Daily Press reports the death of a parolee's girlfriend, which has caused one member of the Virginia Parole Board to conclude that the board made a bad mistake in letting the man out of prison early.